A Man Wants to Make Your Period "Better" With...Glue?

We're in as close to a golden age of menstruation as we've ever been. States are ditching the tampon tax, there are organic and sustainable products that are delivered right to your door, and you can even free-bleed into certain underwear with no judgment. Even if it's an annoying process, at no point has any period-haver thought to herself "You know what would really be great? Gluing my labia together."

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

However, a man sure thought of it. Chiropractor Daniel Dopps developed Mensez, a "feminine lip-stick" that combats a heavy flow by literally sticking your labia to each other to block leaks. Peeing breaks the seal, after which you just reapply and go about your day like everything is normal. (!?!)

Mensez went viral on Facebook, where the company describes the sensation as like that "kind of fun" feeling when your lips get stuck together from too much gloss. The whole thing is just one Reddit thread away from sounding like that kid who thought tampons were dumb and women just needed to "control their bladders."

Dopps told ELLE.com that the idea of Mensez just came to him, and the more research he did, the more he thought it could actually work. "I see the issues that women deal with, and I'm not a gynecologist, but I just think it could be a better answer than absorbent products. A toddler wearing a diaper, life can be so much better if they're potty trained," he said. "I know that's an offensive way to say this but I don't know how else to say it. I just think there's a better way." He also noted a friend of his had an early case of toxic shock syndrome, so coming up with a hygienic menstruation solution has been important to him.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Mensez is currently in the fundraising phase, and according to the site, "will be available some time in 2017." Dopps explains that it's the ammonia in urine that'd break the seal, not just the moisture, and that according to his research, he theorizes that women actually have glands that would hold their labia together naturally (modern hygienic practices just mean we wash it all away too often). He also insists that women have asked about a product like this, so he's confident there's a market.

No one is harmed by more options on the market (though have fun if the seal breaks in the middle of a board meeting), but Dopps seems to be confused about just what having a period is like. According to Forbes, Dopps responded to a Facebook commenter questioning the product by saying "[Y]ou as a woman should have come up with a better solution than diapers and plugs, but you didn't. Reason being women are focused on and distracted by your period 25% of the time, making them far less productive than they could be."

On the phone with ELLE.com he emphasized that women must be distracted whenever they're menstruating, equating it with having to sit out the 4th quarter of every football game, or a man spending a week every month with diarrhea or a runny nose.

Dopps says he doesn't intend to offend, but told Forbes "a lot of the LGBT community, lesbians in particular, are furious at me because I'm a white straight man." But it's not because he's a straight white man (the modern applicator tampon was patented by a man), or because anyone is opposed to innovation in the menstrual sciences. Rather, it's because he seems to have a distant understanding of what having a period is actually like.

Having your period is not like having a runny nose or wearing a diaper or playing football. It's like...having your period. It's different for everyone, so sure, there may be people out there who'd prefer Dopps' product to what's already out there. But the argument that menstruation automatically cripples and confuses women for a week at a time has been used to keep women down, whether it's because they're thought of as too frail to be paid equally or too PMS-y to be president.

And guess what? This whole article, which took focus and work and energy, was written by someone who has her period!

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
ELLE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.